Daycare

Mia was up 4-5 times an hour last night. She’s probably got a nasty sinus infection. Taking her to the doctor this afternoon. Had some drama with her daycare teachers this morning. We just don’t like them as much as her previous teachers. They aren’t so warm and fuzzy. Carol said she was watching on the webcam one day and a kid pushed Mia down. They punished the kid but didn’t really love on Mia. She was crying, following them around and they ignored her. Then another day when she was up all night, she was fussy the next day. They wrote on her sheet, “Was crying and fussing all day – NONSTOP!!!” (NONSTOP was highlighted and underlined). Does that convey concern for the child, or concern for how bad my child made their day?

This morning I told the one teacher that she wasn’t feeling well and that I was going to make a doctor’s appointment for her today. Mia was clinging to me and had her head on my chest. The teacher didn’t speak to Mia, didn’t make a move toward her, etc. She just said she’d give her some milk. So I finally put Mia in her chair about the time the second teacher walked in. She heard Mia wasn’t feeling well she said, “Oh, well this should be a fun day then.” So I picked Mia back up and said I was taking her to my Dad’s because “I don’t want to leave her with people who don’t want to take care of her.” I slammed the door and walked out. I’m waiting on a call back from the director now.

I don’t know that I want her moved, because she has lots of friends in that room and she doesn’t seem unhappy. I just want these people to understand how their actions (or lack thereof) affect the parents and children. They are in a service profession. They are paid to both educate and nurture my daughter. I don’t pay them to care for her only when she’s happy and in a good mood. I understand how hard it is to take care of a sick baby. But I also know how hard it is to leave your sick baby with someone else, and you want that person to reassure you your baby will be well cared for. Indifferent looks and comments do not reassure me, nor do they make my daughter feel better.

Time for change

We've had a lot of change going on these past few weeks. Mia moved to her new room at daycare. I went away on a four-day conference. And Mike closed the store. It's been a stressful time at our house, but also a time for new possibilities. We're trying to stay focused on all our blessings.

Mia's new teachers don't seem to be the same warm and fuzzy type we're used to. It's caused a bit of anxiety for us, so I spoke with the assistant director about it. She assured me the teacher that seems to be the least nurturing is one of the most structured teachers, and that children really learn a lot from her. Before that conversation I wondered if that would be the case. She seems like she may work well with toddlers trying to push boundaries. Mia had started hitting and even bit me once while she was in the last room. Maybe this new teacher will help minimize those types of behaviors.

• Mia loves to talk and sing! Her favorite song is the ABC song, which she combines with Twinkle, Twinkle to make something like, "A, B, C, B, E, E, B up a buh duh...ha ba wha da".
• She also surprises me daily with new words. As I've been typing this, she came to me with flash cards and said "cards". She also said toys, necklace and bracelet yesterday. So I've realized she hears and understands much more than I give her credit for. We REALLY need to watch those four-letter words!
• She loves "Ehmo, Ehmo, Ehmo!" so we watch him on the computer just about every night before she goes to bed. Our favorite is Andrea Bocelli singing Elmo a lullaby. When we get tired of watching we tell her Elmo went to bed.
• She also loves Mickey and Pooh. Both Mickey and Minnie are "Mickey" and both Tigger and Pooh are "Pooh". Sometimes we aren't sure if she has gone to the bathroom or if she wants her toy.
• The other day she was in the backseat with two pacifiers. She would put one in her mouth and say "one". Then she would pull it out, replace it with the other and say "two".
• Her favorite books continue to be the "my first words" books, although Goodnight Moon is a bedtime standard.
• She now climbs into her highchair herself for meals, and buckles herself in.
• She enjoys coloring, and loves to eat the crayons, then spit the wax out all over herself and our carpet. Anyone have a good remedy for getting crayon out of carpet?
• She likes to put on her own shoes and sometimes even gets them on the right feet.
• She loves playing with other kids her age and gets so excited to see Cara. Last weekend we went to Mom's to celebrate Bruce's birthday. She ran to give Cara a hug. Come to think of it, she runs to her grandparents and Missy for hugs as well.
• She likes to hold onto my legs while I'm working around the house. She peeks through them and says "Ma-ma" in a little singsong voice, laughing at how funny she is.
• She loves to sit on Mike's back when he lays on the floor. He rides her around like a horse while she squeals and giggles.
• Of course she's also taken to saying "No Mommy" and "No Daddy" when she doesn't want to do something, or for no apparent reason whatsoever. We don't like that so much.
• She doesn't mind very well. She pretends not to hear us when we tell her not to do something. We physically have to walk over to her and make her stop. I've had to put her in the corner twice now for hitting me when I've made her stop doing something.
• Fortunately she doesn't do those type things very often. Mostly she wants to do what we're doing, and loves to snuggle up with us on the couch, or pretend to vacuum, or read books, or play on the computer, or put on "makeup".
• Bedtime is still pretty easy for us (knock on wood). She takes a bath, we read a few books and then tell her "nighty night". She lays down with her "pashis" (pacis) and closes her eyes. If she doesn't seem super tired, I put a book in bed with her. She'll usually talk to herself and her toys for awhile, then she's asleep before we know it. Other nights she comes to us before we even give her a bath or anything and tells us "night night" and walks to her room. She stands next to her bed, waiting for us to put her in. So we do, and she's out.
• Four or five times over the past few weeks I've found myself holding her while she falls asleep, and crying at how much I love her. I miss cuddling her, and she's growing up so fast. I've realized I won't be able to hold her and look down at her in my arms forever, so I've decided to take advantage while I can.

Growing

We have learned that August 17 is moving day at daycare. Since all the pre-k kids start kindergarten, all the other kids move up into their spots. Mia didn't move last year because things are different for babies. But Miss Mia is a toddler now, so she does what the big kids do. Since she's not yet 2, she'll go to a transition room instead of the two year-old room. She has moved a lot in her 15 months there, but I think it's because they try to keep the kids on a steady progression of learning and of trying to keep them with children their same age and developmental level. It is a large place so they can do that. I'm sad she'll be leaving her teachers. We have been very happy with them and the care they've given Mia. But we're confident her next group of teachers will be just as wonderful and we look forward to watching her learn and grow even more.

Along the same lines of growing, Mia is "growing" some more teeth and she is very fussy tonight. She has a very low-grade temp, was super-tired when we got home tonight and went to bed about 6:30, only to wake up an hour later, crying and not knowing what she wanted to do. She has screamed and cried "no" to everything for almost two hours. She's back in bed but not really sleeping. She's just going in and out of a fitful sleep. It's been a long time since our girl has had any troubles like this, so it's frustrating. She still can't really tell us what she needs, but she is very vocal about what she doesn't want. She doesn't want to be in bed, read a book, cuddle, sleep, walk around, etc. We fed her and gave her some milk but that was only a temporary fix. So we'll see how tonight goes. There's just nothing worse than when she cries out in a sad little voice, "Mama", and I don't know how to make it all better.

Dinner with Mamaw and Papaw

Last Sunday at the Park